Is it okay to not have a lot of AP classes on the transcript?
Hi! Like the question suggested, is it okay to not take a lot of AP and honors classes from freshman year to junior year? I only took 1 and it was AP Environmental Science (I got a 4 on the AP exam). I want to apply to selective colleges, but my transcript is that ”pretty.” I’m taking 4 AP classes this year and 1 college-level class. I haven’t joined a lot of clubs, only Art Club for 2 years. What should I do to increase my chance of getting into the T30 schools this year (considering the pandemic, too)? Thank you for your time!
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To be honest, it depends on what your high school offers. If you're taking 5 of 5 possible AP Classes, then it's perfectly okay. However, if you go to a very competitive high school that offers 10+ ap classes, you may not bein as good of a position. To improve your chances, I'd suggest waiting for the regular decision deadline, for starters, so that colleges can see your first semester senior year when making admissions decisions. This won't work for UC system or University of Washington, but for others, it will help. Also, spend lots of time on your essays to make sure that you can stand out.
In addition, make sure to have safety/match schools. Match schools meaning you have similar or slightly higher GPA/SAT to accepted students, and safety meaning you're above the 75th percentile for both.
Your chance of acceptance
Your chancing factors
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I went to 3 high schools and I don’t really remember how many honors and AP classes the first two offer. But for the third one, I think they offer about 15 AP classes.